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Barbara Steele
| image = | birth name = | known aliases = The Queen of All Scream Queens | gender = | mediums = Film; Television | roles = | date of birth = December 29th, 1937 | place of birth = Birkenhead, Cheshire, England | date of death = | place of death = | notable works = | first = Black Sunday (1960) }} Barbara Steele is a British actress born on December 29th, 1937 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England. A sultry and alluring woman, Steele was one of the more popularly known "scream queens" of her generation and usually played villainess roles in the Italian giallo sub-genre. Career ]] Barbara's first major role in a genre film was the 1960 Italian giallo film ''La maschera del demonio (known in the US market as Black Sunday). Steele played Asa Vajda, a witch sentenced to die by her royal sibling, and subsequently curses her brother's family bloodline. Following that, she appeared in Roger Corman's version of Pit and the Pendulum, the second adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's 1842 short story. In 1962 she appeared in Riccardo Freda's The Horrible Dr. Hichcock playing the role of Cynthia Hichcock, the second wife and would-be victim of the necrophiliac Professor Bernard Hichcock. She later plays another character by the name of Hichcock in another Riccardo Freda film, 1963's The Ghost. The following year, Steele starred in Antonio Margheriti's Danza Macabre playing the ghost of Elisabeth Blackwood, a spirit who returns from the afterworld and aids author Edgar Allan Poe in escaping from a haunted mansion. In The Long Hair of Death, Steele played dual roles as mother and daughter Helen and Mary Karnstein. In Terror Creatures from the Grave, Barbara played Cleo Hauff, a widow and mother of Corinne Hauff who tells attorney Albert Kovac about her late husband's ability to summon the dead. in Dark Shadows.]] In Nightmare Castle, Steele once again played dual lead parts, this time in the roles of Murial and Jenny Arrowsmith. In the film, Steele plays the murdered wife of an evil Count as well as her character's own sister who likewise becomes the subject of the Count's lustful and murderous attention. In 1966, Barbara Steele starred in the British-Italian horror film The She-Beast directed by Michael Reeves. In this, Steele played the role Veronica, an 18th century witch who possesses the body of a young woman following a roadside accident. Steele's last major role during the 1960s was in Vernon Sewell's Curse of the Crimson Altar where she played the role of Lavinia Morley. Barbara Steele's career dwindled sharply following Curse of the Crimson Altar and she did not appear in another horror film until 1975 when she played a character named Betts in David Cronenberg's off-beat sci-fi thriller Shivers. This was Steele's first major role in an American horror film. She then played the role of Doctor Mengers in Joe Dante's 1980 horror-comedy Piranha. Her last major role in a horror film was as Victoria Engels in The Silent Scream, released in 1980. More than a decade later, Steele returned to the genre, but this time in the medium of television. She appeared in the short-lived 1991 Dark Shadows revival series playing the role of Doctor Julia Hoffman (a part originally played by the late Grayson Hall). Once again, Steele found herself playing multiple parts as she also played the role of an 18th century countess named Natalie du Pr s. Steele appeared in all twelve episodes of the series. She played Natalie du Pr s in episodes 1.7-1.12. Body of work Film Television Notes & Trivia * Also appeared in the 1964 sex comedy I maniaci directed by Italian horror luminary Lucio Fulci. * Barbara Steele also appeared in the "You Can't Get Help Like That Anymore/The Sins of the Fathers" episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery. * Outtakes of Barbara Steele's role in Piranha can be found on the Special Features section on the Piranha DVD. External Links * * * Barbara Steele at Wikipedia * Barbara Steele at Film Bug * * Barbara Steele at Search My Trash * Barbara Steele at the Dark Shadows Wiki References ---- Category:1937 births Category:Scream queens